Hochul clarifies position on immigrant driver's licenses

ALBANY — Eleven years after Kathy Hochul vowed to have undocumented immigrants arrested if they applied for a driver’s license in the offices she controlled as Erie County clerk, her spokeswoman says the lieutenant governor stands with her running mate, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in supporting licenses for the undocumented.

But Hochul herself was far less clear at the Democratic Party’s quadrennial nominating convention last week, when she was asked if the state should issue licenses if the federal government doesn't act on immigration reform. “That’s something that’s being looked at," she said.

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Hochul’s comments come as both New York City Council Member Jumaane Williams and actor Cynthia Nixon push the issue of driver’s licenses in their parallel primary challenges to Hochul and Cuomo.

After her overwhelming renomination, Hochul said she had a record of "standing up for progressive values in the most Republican district in the state” when she was a member of Congress in 2011 and 2012. Asked about her arrest threats in response to a 2007 proposal by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer to grant driver’s licenses to non-citizens, Hochul said the world has changed.

“I was an elected official in Erie County, and I represented the people of that district,” Hochul told reporters. “What I would say today with respect to the driver’s licenses: It is a whole different era out there. That was 11 years ago, and there were very few people saying that was the right policy at the time. But I have been fighting for immigration reform since I was a staffer for Sen. [Daniel Patrick] Moynihan. I believe this has to come at the federal level — this would make it a lot easier if they would step up and handle the responsibility they have to make sure that ... people who are in this country have the right to continue living here and they should have all the rights of citizenship.”

Eight hours after POLITICO asked a Cuomo 2018 spokeswoman about Hochul’s comments at the convention, Hochul spokeswoman Haley Viccaro called to say that the lieutenant governor “is supporting driver’s licenses for immigrants. … I can’t tell you why she didn’t say that directly.”

Hochul also said that she was sensitive to the importance of immigrant workers to the state’s agriculture sector, and noted she represented rural counties between Buffalo and Rochester in Congress.

“I saw what’s happening with people living in these communities trying to get to jobs on the farms and farmers are begging for the workers and transportation is an issue,” she said. “So these are issues that came to light since the time I proudly served as the Erie County clerk.”

Advocates say the lack of a license makes it impossible for undocumented immigrants to drive legally, and puts them at risk for deportation if they drive and are pulled over. Allowing the licenses could make driving safer, they say, and even reduce auto insurance rates as pools expand.

Opponents of the measure, including most Republicans, say the licenses raise security concerns. They say the identification might allow undocumented immigrants to board airplanes, which is an unacceptable risk in the post-Sept. 11 era.

Williams (D-Brooklyn) released a video message noting that his parents are immigrants and his brother was at one point undocumented. “It makes sense to make sure that people aren’t in the shadows, that people have identification, that people can move around this state without being stopped, without fear of where we are with [President Donald] Trump in 2018,” he said.

While spokespeople for Cuomo say he’s supportive of the issue, he hasn’t done much to help legislators pushing a bill, NY A10273 (17R), that would create a second tier of licenses that does not require proof of citizenship. Then-Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, issued an executive order requiring a Social Security number to obtain a driver’s license in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Nixon’s team says Cuomo should immediately undo that requirement with his own executive order, and pointed to an analysis by Cardozo Law School professor Peter Markowitz saying it is within his powers.

"One of the biggest ways to take on [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and Trump’s mass deportation agenda is by making drivers licenses available to all qualified New Yorkers,” said Nixon spokeswoman Lauren Hitt. “Hardworking immigrants should be able to drive their children to school and themselves to work without fear that a broken tail-light or expired tags will lead to deportation. It's unfathomable that Governor Cuomo is refusing to pass an executive order that would give working families across the state tremendous peace of mind.”

Cuomo’s government spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, said the governor doesn’t believe he has the legal power to allow immigrants to have driver’s licenses unless the Legislature acts. Azzopardi noted that county officials could oppose an executive order (as Hochul did in 2007) and said other states that offer the licenses have done so as a result of legislation.

“We support the policy but want to do it smartly, without exposing the state or others we are seeking to help,” he wrote. The governor in April signed an executive order banning ICE agents from state facilities unless they have a warrant.

Asked whether Hochul supported legislation or an executive order to make the undocumented eligible for driver's licenses, her spokeswoman replied, “She’s going to support whatever the governor says is the best thing to do. That’s where she stands.”